Just as regular schools emptied in June, classes are now in session for Maple Leaf prospects.

And this camp could be the most intense ever from a teaching perspective for 29 kids, comprised of recent draft picks and a handful of young free agents. It’s set up so there’s never a dull moment between reveille sounding about 7 a.m. Monday at a downtown hotel until on-ice drills and outside activities wrap up late Friday.

“We’ve gone smaller than in previous years of having up to 40 kids,” said Jim Highes, the club’s director of player development. “We’ll have a combination of a lot of situational teaching this year, a lot of one-to-one, with our usual activities. It’s all to do with working the trade better.”

The players will be split into goalies (three), defencemen (eight) and forwards (17). And almost everyone on the parent Leafs and Marlies staff is on call, the farm club coaches, goalie instructors Rick St. Croix and Piero Greco, strength coach Tony Belza and skating coach Barb Underhill. New club president Brendan Shanahan, general manager Dave Nonis, advisor Steve Staios and other execs will also have a presence, while former captain Wendel Clark will address the group later in the week.

Much of the on-ice portion at the Mastercard Centre will be for Leaf eyes only with limited scrimmage action in favour of individual work.

“It’s a tweak this time, we want to have certain messages to the players,” said Hughes, who has been running this camp for a few years. “It’s so they can get to know each other, the staff and things we need to stress such as nutrition, conditioning and foot speed. For some of them (such as 2014 top pick William Nylander and OHL player of the year Connor Brown) they’ll get a better idea of what to expect in September at rookie camp.

“But we won’t get away from some of the interactive things we’ve done in the past. They’re going go-karting one day, we’ll do some things at the Raptors practice facility, they’re taking a double decker bus tour of the city and we’re going to have team meals at places such as Wayne Gretzky’s.”

Swede seasons

It looks like the Tre Kronor are going to be prominent in Leaf fortunes the next few years.

That’s part of the reason the Leafs arranged for a dinner of their five newest Swedish draft prospects on Saturday night at the team-owned Real Sports bar. They included Nylander, fellow forwards Pierre Engvall and Andreas Johnson and defencemen Tom Nilsson and Viktor Loov, all picked between 2011-14.

“It was surprising that they really didn’t know each other until they sat down,” Hughes said. “This was a good way to get them all acclimated. They spent (Sunday) just walking around Toronto, getting to know they place.”

Not included was the Swedish defenceman many expect to make the Leafs this year, 2010 pick Petter Granberg, who had a great year with the Marlies and made it into one NHL game last season.

Now hear this

The Leafs, Canadiens and Rangers had the most prominent players file for salary arbitration when 20 NHLers met Saturday’s 5 p.m. deadline.

Toronto goalie James Reimer, who had made known his intention to file a few days earlier, was joined by defenceman Cody Franson, who had been a 2013 camp holdout and eventually came back for one year at $2 million US.

At the very least, an expected raise for Reimer from the $1.6 million he made last year will make him feel better about his worth, even though his request to be traded won’t likely see him moved very quickly this summer.

Franson might have had a better chance for salary arbitration last season based on better offensive numbers, but filing means there’s near certainty he’s staying when there are so many questions about the ability of incoming veterans and rookies on the Toronto blueline.

Defenceman Jake Gardiner did not take the arbitration road. A frequent subject of trade rumours — after Morgan Rielly showed he could be a more reliable offensive defenceman — there is reason to believe Gardiner will get a bridge deal between $2 million and $3 million and he and the team will be off on a better footing at camp.

The Canadiens could be headed for a hearing with defenceman P.K. Subban and forward Lars Eller, with Subban obviously a big topic after two very strong seasons, including his Norris Trophy win in 2013. Subban, who held out at camp in 2013, might not get everything he wants, but is assured of something in the $6 million neighbourhood which the Habs could stretch into a two-year award and take away a year of his UFA status. The Habs would also have the security of knowing he’ll be in camp and can’t be lured by a rival’s offer sheet.

All arbitration cases will be heard between July 20 and Aug. 4, though clubs can reach a deal before it gets to the actual hearing date. The New York Rangers face the most hearings with Derick Brassard, Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello all filing.​

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Maple Leafs shrink size of prospects camp

Just as regular schools emptied in June, classes are now in session for Maple Leaf prospects.

And this camp could be the most intense ever from a teaching perspective for 29 kids, comprised of recent draft picks and a handful of young free agents. It’s set up so there’s never a dull moment between reveille sounding about 7 a.m. Monday at a downtown hotel until on-ice drills and outside activities wrap up late Friday.